Ain Al-Hayat, The Essence of Life.pdf - Higher Intellect | Content ...

Imam Jafar e Sadiq (a.s.) was asked by someone,“ O son of the Prophet! How to
create khuzu wa khushu (humility and fear of Allah) in prayer?”
The Imam (a.s.) replied,” During prayer keep your eyes focussed on the point
where you prostrate with your forehead.”
Again someone asked the Imam (a.s.) the same question and he told him that
during the prayer he should have the thought in his mind that he might die
immediately after the prayer.
After some more days another person asked the Imam the same question. The
Imam said that during the prayer the person should concentrate on the thought
that he is witnessing Allah; but since Allah does not have any physical
appearance, He cannot be seen with the eyes. The thought must be there during
the prayer that Allah is looking at the worshipper.
A thought comes to the mind that the Holy Imam (a.s.), instead of giving three
different replies, could have given only one reply, which he thought was the best.
But this thinking is wrong. As a matter of fact, the Imam was replying to every
individual keeping his capability in mind. The reply given to the third and the last
person is for the knowledgeable, and the most knowledgeable are the Infallible
members of the Prophet’s progeny. They are on record praying to Allah thus, “ We
have not been able to justify Your Mystic knowledge.(ma arafnak haq marafatak)
STEP 2
THE REASON FOR CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE
There are numerous verses of the Holy Quran and several traditions of the Prophet (a.s.)
and the Imams that illustrate that the purpose of the creation of the universe, and all the
creatures living in it, is for the sole purpose of worshipping the Creator, Allah. We should
know that prayer and knowledge of Allah have to be compulsorily together. Without
knowledge of Allah prayer is futile and without prayer any claims of knowledge of Allah
are not of any use. There are certain conditions that are the very spirit of prayer, for
example humility, fear of Allah and dedication of the heart. If these things are not there
then the prayer is not of much use. These things prevent the worshipper from undesirable
acts. If the prayer is not implicitly in accordance with the established norms, then it can,
at best, be termed as praying just out of habit.
For the acceptance of our prayers we have to consider whether it is preventing us from
the undesirable acts of the daily life. If this is not the case, we are not fulfilling the very
purpose of the Creator prescribing prayer for the human kind. The prayer of such persons
will be hypocritical, tantamount to going through the ritual for making a show in the
social environment.